On 16 June 2008 NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer project reported finding large numbers of new stars in the outer reaches of the galaxy. It had hitherto been thought that these areas lacked the materials necessary for star formation.[10]

M83 is at the center of one of two subgroups within the Centaurus A/M83 Group, a nearby galaxy group.[11]Centaurus A is at the center of the other subgroup. These two groups are sometimes identified as one group[12][13] and sometimes identified as two groups.[14] However, the galaxies around Centaurus A and the galaxies around M83 are physically close to each other, and both subgroups appear not to be moving relative to each other.[15]